Returning Home
by fallen-angel815
Summary: Tristan returns from boot camp to find the girl of his dreams desperately needs his help. Will become Trory. PLEASE review, it makes me more likely to update faster! Also, the WB owns Gilmore Girls and its characters.
1. Back Where We Started

Chapter 1 – Back Where We Started  
  
Tristan stepped out of his Porsche and looked around at the grounds of Chilton. It all seemed so strange, to be back after a year, to be able to see all of his friends. "Friends" was probably a better way to say it. None of them really knew him, or cared about him for that matter. No one had written to him while he had been away, no one had even called the DuGrey Manor to see how he was. Not that it really mattered to him; they weren't the ones he cared about. All he cared about was seeing Rory again. She had been the one thing that had gotten him through the past year. And now he could finally see her again.  
  
Rory Gilmore walked down the halls of her school, talking with Paris about the student government. There was so much that they had to figure out as the president and vice president of the student body. As she turned the corner, her eyes connected with the blue eyes of a face from the past. She couldn't think of anything to say to the one word that hung in the air, "Mary."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rory stepped off of the bus and headed towards Luke's. When she entered, she said, "coffee," to Luke, then headed upstairs. Jess opened the door as soon as she knocked, and ushered her in.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned because he could see her feelings displayed in her eyes.  
  
"Tristan's back, and he's going to come in contact with Dean at some point," Rory said. She glanced at her watch and took off, realizing that she was late for her meeting with Dean. 


	2. Confrontations

Chapter 2 – Confrontations  
  
"I'm so sorry I'm late," Rory cried as she ran up to Dean.  
  
"You went to see HIM, didn't you?" Dean almost shouted. He and Jess had never gotten along, and he hated that his girlfriend would rather talk to the town miscreant than him.  
  
"Yes, but only because my mom's busy right now, and..."  
  
"So you can't talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering you? And don't try to talk your way out of this one. I want an answer, and I want it now!" Rory flinched at the anger in her boyfriend's eyes.  
  
"Yes, something's bothering me, but I wanted to talk to someone impartial about it. It's not something that's that easy to talk to you about." Rory saw her boyfriend open his mouth and cut him off before he went off again. "You want to know what I don't want to tell you!? Fine, here it is: I ran into Tristan today in the halls. I didn't talk to him. I only saw him once. But he caused problems for me in the past, and I wanted to talk to someone about it. And I didn't want to come to you because you hate Tristan. Anytime I brought up his name, you completely lost it. And I didn't want to do that to you. Alright? You satisfied now!?"  
  
Dean sighed, and wrapped his arms around the shaking girl in front of him. "No I'm not satisfied. I don't ever want you to be unhappy, especially because of that asshole. I just don't like the fact that I'm the last to know anything about you."  
  
"You're not the last. You're never the last. I just sometimes need to work through things on my own. Without you getting so overprotective. Don't get me wrong, I love that you love me that much. It's just that sometimes, I can't think when you get like that. And I needed to think." Rory's face showed just how worried she was of how he felt, and decided he could let it go. For the time being at least.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tristan opened the door to the monstrosity his parents called a home. He just didn't see it. Sure, there were a lot of mansions like that in the area, but to call it a home seemed unfair. It was like a museum, with its fancy furniture, and all of the decorations no one was allowed to touch. The kitchen was the same, except that everything in it was modern. Any food that was bought was put away immediately, and the chef cleaned up as soon as possible. There were snacks, mainly for Tristan and his friends, not that they ever came over. When he was little, and he used to climb up on the counter for something to eat, he would get yelled at. Sometimes his mother was so loud that he wound up cowering in a corner for a while afterwards. Sometimes it was for leaving crumbs, or spilling his drink. Other times it was because she could see his footprint or hand print on the pristine black counter. It could be the tiniest of smudges, but if it was there, she'd find it.  
  
Not that his mother was all bad. It was just that she was raised so that everything had to be just so. She was also not there for him. Not so much that she didn't care, just that she didn't know how to show it. She had been raised in a loveless home, so she never knew what to do or say to her son.  
  
His father on the other hand, was just cold. Colder than the house, if that was even possible. He acknowledged his son, only because Tristan was an only child, and therefore the sole heir to the DuGrey fortune. He was the only one who could keep the DuGrey name alive. That meant he had to be perfect at all times. It also meant that whenever Tristan was with his father, he was in training.  
  
Tristan wandered into the kitchen, looking for something to drink. When he opened the refrigerator door, he spotted a case of beer. No one would notice if he took one, they never did. Just as his hand was about to wrap around the bottle, he heard footsteps approaching. Knowing they were his father's, he moved his hand towards the next drink he saw, which was luckily a Pepsi.  
  
"Son," Phillip DuGrey nodded towards the child in question.  
  
"Father," Tristan replied, desperately fighting the urge to call his father by his real name. It felt more appropriate for the kind of relationship that they had. But, since that wouldn't be proper, he avoided it, thus avoiding hours of lecturing and "training". Turning around, he carefully sidestepped his father and went to the entrance hall to grab his backpack.  
  
"Tristan, there you are." Millicent DuGrey announced her presence very quietly, but very unexpectedly, making Tristan jump. It was her usual way, but he never got used to it. "How was school?"  
  
"Fine, Mom. Thanks." Tristan started up the stairs to his room. He starting thinking about he last time his father decided to "train" him. He didn't have the best manners at one of the many dinner parties he was required to attend, so he was forced to sit in the dining room for hours on end, learning what the proper thing to do was. He threw his books into a corner of the room, planning to get to them later. He plopped down on his bed, relaxing in the only warm room in the house. He let his mind start to wander, willing himself to mentally escape his house. Visions of Rory filled his mind as he started to drift off, and he smiled to himself as he imagined Rory next to him, allowing him to escape.  
  
Author's Note – I'm sorry it took so long, but my computer wasn't working! 


	3. Truth Becomes Lies

Chapter 3 – Truth Becomes Lies  
  
"Mom?" Rory called out as she pushed open the door to her house. "Mom, where are you?" She stepped inside, followed closely by Dean. She wondered where her mother was, as they had just been at Luke's, and there had been no sign of her there. And it was only 8:30 or so. Walking into the living room, she spotted a note with her mother's familiar handwriting:  
  
Rory, I'm so sorry babe, but I have to work all night. There was some kind of water mane break or something at the inn, so I won't be home until the morning. Try to not eat any of the spoiled stuff in the fridge, and I'll try not to miss any of your firsts before I get back. Love you Sweets.  
Mom PS – Remember, that means no first time walking, or drinking your first cup of coffee, or any of that.  
  
"So, I guess this means we have the whole place to ourselves," Dean noted, wrapping his arms around her as he read over her shoulder.  
  
Rory spun around in his arms. "I guess we do," she smiled innocently. "Whatever shall we do?"  
  
"I can think of a few things," was the last thing Dean said before leaning down to kiss Rory.  
  
About an hour and a half later, the phone rang. Rory untangled herself from her boyfriend, and pushing herself off the couch, where they had been snuggling. It took her a bit to locate the phone, but when she did, her reaction was immediate. "Mom?" she answered hopefully.  
  
"Sorry, I'm too young and male to be your mother," Jess responded, causing Rory to laugh on the other end.  
  
"Oh, alright, I guess I can deal with you know," Rory teased. She turned to Dean for a second, covering the mouthpiece. "I'm going into my bedroom for a little bit. You can do whatever." She leaned down to kiss him gently before standing up and starting towards her room, resuming her conversation.  
  
"Sorry about that."  
  
"No big deal. Just as long as he doesn't take any swings at me," they both laughed a bit uncomfortably at that one, knowing that that could be a possibility if Dean got upset.  
  
"So, what's up?" Rory asked as she plopped down on her bed. She could hear Jess doing the same thing on the other end of the line.  
  
"No, Doc?"  
  
"No, there's no bunny here," she smiled.  
  
"I guess I can deal with that, if I absolutely have to. I just wanted to know what happened after you left. You never really explained about what happened today with Tristan." Jess told her, remembering how she had told him all about the guy who had made her life "miserable" in school. Not that he had believed her. Although this guy teased Rory, it sounded like they had a banter sort of like what Jess and Rory had. And from the stories he had heard, it sounded as if this Tristan guy had a major thing for his best friend. Not just the kind of "oh, I think she's pretty, maybe she'll go out with me" type of thing. It seemed like this guy was close to falling in love with her, that is, if he hadn't already.  
  
He also knew that she wouldn't have gone out with Tristan, even if asked. She was happy being with the good guy. The safe guy. The guy everybody liked. Even though Jess didn't think that of Dean, he knew Rory and the rest of Stars Hollow did. And Tristan didn't have a chance to compete with that. He knew he wasn't able to in the past. Not that he was interested in Rory like that anymore, but there had been a point when he first arrived that he did.  
  
As tended to happen when a Gilmore woman started talking, Rory launched into a seemingly never-ending tirade. She started with her history with Tristan and his relationship with Dean. That lead into how upset Dean was over all of this, and how upset she was over Tristan being back to torment her. (Jess smiled at that one, knowing that she enjoyed the banter, and how much the kid cared for her.) She started talking about how lucky Jess was to have Paris, because although she was a high-strung control- freak, she didn't get jealous over Jess and Rory's friendship. What came next was what really scared him. She told him how Dean reacted to the news. Jess became very quiet all of a sudden. He was aware of Dean's temper, having been the target of it when he first came to town. Rory, on the other hand, didn't see anything wrong with it. And that was what concerned him.  
  
"Jess?" the sound of her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Are you still there?"  
  
"Yeah," he said, still very concerned. He managed to shake it off. "I'm sorry about that.  
  
Their conversation continued for a while longer, ranging from Paris, to school, to the books they were both reading. After a while, Rory heard Dean get up from the couch and approach her room. Jess heard it too, and tensed up.  
  
"Jess, I'm going to have to go now," Rory added as Dean appeared at her door.  
  
"Sure, I'll talk to you later?"  
  
"Of course," Rory said, and then put down the phone.  
  
Jess was about to hang up the phone when he heard a strangled noise coming from the other end. He realized Rory hadn't hung up yet. Suddenly, he heard a yell, "Dean, what are you doing!?" Then her phone was off, and Jess knew no more. 


	4. Lifting the Veil

Chapter 4 – Lifting the Veil  
  
Tristan woke with a start, sweating, knowing something was wrong. He didn't know what, but he knew it was there. He reached over and turned his alarm off, having woken up before it even went off. Not wanting to work himself up even more, he took a quick shower, and headed down for an early breakfast.  
  
"Good morning, Mr. Tristan," Carmella, the cook, greeted him as he dropped his backpack next to the island. Almost collapsing, Tristan held up the mandatory Chilton blazer, tie, and his "aren't-I-rich" shoes to show he remembered.  
  
"See, I have them today, Carmella. And you can relax, my parents are nowhere near up yet," Tristan smiled in spite of himself. Carmella had been there for him for as long as he could remember. She would sneak him treats, hide him when his parents were angry, and was the only confidant he had.  
  
"What's bothering you this morning, hun? I would have thought you'd be happy to be home still. I know it's no haven, but it's not boot camp, you have to give it back. I was only gone for one day, my rare Monday off, and I come back to find you like this? I don't like it one bit," as she gently prodded Tristan for information, she placed a stack of warm pancakes in front of him. She smiled slightly as he drenched them with syrup and started to plow into them. At least he hadn't lost his appetite. "Come on, sweetie, out with it. What's going on in that head of yours?"  
  
Tristan heaved a sigh, then looked up, his blue eyes meeting her chocolate ones. "You remember that girl I told you about before I left, Rory?"  
  
"I think you mentioned her once or twice," Carmella teased the boy in front of her. He had obsessed over her from the moment she walked into his life until he left for military school. She had assumed, of course, that the obsession never stopped, but this confirmed it.  
  
"Well, I saw her yesterday. We only said hi, barely that, and I don't think she even thought about it, but it meant the world to me. Coming back and finding her here, the same, makes me think that there may be some hope for me yet. You know? Like if the one bright light was still here, then maybe I can still follow it." He paused, unsure of what to say next. "I don't know, does that make any sense?"  
  
"Of course it does," Carmella lowered herself onto the chair next to Tristan's, her worry increasing because he had abandoned his plate, a very uncharacteristic gesture. She didn't know what else there was to say. She had her one shining light too, and she knew how it felt to be thankful it was still there. Sure, she and Tristan had shared almost everything with each other, but it wasn't the same. They were the anchors in each other's lives, not the goal, the perfection.  
  
They heard footsteps approaching, the sound of women's heels. A second later, Millicent was standing in the doorway, watching her son pull on his shoes, and her cook work on breakfast for the rest of the house.  
  
"Tristan, you really should get going. You don't want to be late the second day back," she instructed.  
  
"No ma'am," Tristan responded, thinking that that was what he really did want. He threw his tie around his neck, and grabbed his jacket. Throwing his book-heavy bag over his shoulder, he gave his mother the mandatory kiss on the cheek, then started out. He glanced back to smile a sincere grin at his lone friend in the giant house. She winked back, clearing his dishes, and he just barely missed the newest maid on the way out. He sighed, nodding at her in way of greeting, not even being aware of her name. As he opened the giant front doors, he thought how much of a shame it was that his mother never liked a maid long enough for him to get to know one as well as he knew Carmella. He opened the shiny black door of his car and threw his backpack and jacket on the seat next to him.  
  
Glancing at the beat-up old car he knew Carmella drove on his way down the long, winding driveway, he cast a sorrowful glance at the house slowly shrinking in the background. He wished there was something he could do, but his mother would fire Carmella if he ever tried to give her a car or money for a new one. It was as if she was so unhappy, she wanted everyone else to be the same way. Blinking back tears, Tristan reluctantly steered his car in the direction of his school, his escape from his prison.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rory stepped off the bus the next morning desperate to avoid running into anyone. She had a black eye, and she thought she had a couple of bruised ribs. She had managed to avoid her mother that morning, as well as most of the town, by getting on an insanely early bus, then getting off at a random stop to wait for her regular one. She just sat and tried to read, although for probably the first time in her life, she couldn't manage to read. She was just too distracted, considering what would happen when she got home.  
  
Rory knew everyone, especially her mom and Luke, would be worried about her, but she didn't have the energy to care. Jess didn't usually get up until the last possible second, so it was possible he wouldn't know for a little while, maybe not until after she got safely into her house. She figured she'd just try to get through the day as quickly as possible, and figure out a lie to tell people whenever she got a chance.. She knew she could avoid answering those questions at school, as most people seemed to prefer pretending she didn't exist. That someone without endless money went to their school.  
  
She was concerned though. Stars Hollow was such a small town, that everyone would know in a matter of hours. More than likely the town already knew that Rory had taken off early. Maybe, if she could get to her mother first, she could pull of a sort of banging into something story with the rest of the town. If they kept insisting that was the truth, most people would give up, and accept that as the truth. Her mom, Luke, Jess, and Lane would be much harder to deal with. They all knew her too well to believe that kind of story. And they could usually tell when Rory was lying, which would not help the matter.  
  
With her head down, Rory made her way as quickly as possible to her locker, and then to her first class. As she went about her daily routine, Rory allowed her mind to drift back to the little she remembered about the night before. Dean had barged into her room, knocking the phone out of her hands. She knew she had screamed a lot, and she could only hope that the phone had been turned off before everything had started. She couldn't bear the thought that Jess had heard everything that had happened. There wasn't much else she could remember. Not clearly anyway. The next thing she remembered was waking up around four in the morning, in pain from her wounds.  
  
The bell rang, startling Rory out of her thoughts. She tried to act as though everything was normal, but she knew she wasn't doing a very good job. Luckily, no one in Chilton cared enough to tell, and even if they did, they had no interest in finding out what was wrong. She was also very careful to keep her hair in her face throughout the day. She wanted no one to see what had happened to her.  
  
Finally, Rory walked into her last class of the day. She heaved a giant sigh of relief at the thought. She was early for class, so her mind started to wander. Like the rest of the day, her thoughts landed on the day before. How she didn't know for sure what had happened. And how she wanted Dean to be innocent, for someone else to be responsible. But she knew that the guy she had fallen in love with had done something to her. She wasn't positive exactly what it was, but she knew that it wasn't good. As she thought about it, a tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away as quickly as possible, and willed herself not to cry, at least not until she had a place to hide. 


	5. Old Friends, New Faces

Chapter 5 – Old Friends, New Faces  
  
Tristan had spent the whole of his last period class staring at Rory. She was already sitting in her seat by the time he arrived, late, as was required of the school hot shot. As he passed her seat, he noticed that she was hunched down, as if trying to hide something from the world. He was concerned, so he grabbed the seat with the best view of the shy girl.  
  
Ever since Rory had come to Chilton, Tristan had been perfecting his non-stare. He had always been able to watch any girl he wanted to. He could stare openly at her, and she would just giggle, or stare back. It had always been simple. Then Rory appeared, and all of the rules changed. He had to figure out how to watch her without letting anyone know, let alone her. Of course, he had never cared enough about a girl to go to all that trouble. If it had been anyone other than Rory, he never would have made the effort. He would have just shrugged her off, and moved on.  
  
All throughout the class, Rory had kept her head down, making Tristan worry more and more with every passing second. He could tell that there was something seriously wrong with her, he just couldn't figure out what. He had been watching her all day, and she had been the same. She seemed like she was broken. And all Tristan wanted to do was fix her.  
  
When class ended, Tristan shrugged off his friends as fast as he could, and followed Rory to her locker. As a cover, he opened his locker, the same one he had had before he left. Then he turned towards Rory, and gently said hello.  
  
"What do you want?" Rory responded immediately, turning her face slightly, but being sure to cover the left side, and her bruises as well.  
  
"You seem upset. I just wanted to know if I could help."  
  
Rory was taken aback. Tristan's words seemed almost sincere. But that couldn't be true, she told herself. Tristan DuGray only thinks about himself.  
  
"I'm not upset, I'm fine. There's nothing for you to help with. Now leave me the hell alone!" Rory slammed her locker, startling the people around them. She hugged her books closer to her body and took off, not wanting to see people's faces. When she got to the bus stop, her bus had just arrived. Rory almost ran to the back and collapsed, pulling out her book.  
  
About half way to Stars Hollow, Rory realized she had no excuse for her behavior that morning. Too exhausted to think up a lie, she decided she would head for home right away, and worry about the rest later. She figured she could call her mother's cell when she got there, and ask her to come home. She knew she could count on her mom to come right away, without questions.  
  
Lorelai was sitting at her usual spot at the counter of Luke's Dinner, annoying the crap out of the owner, trying to get her coffee out of the man. She wasn't just looking for one cup either, she was looking for one for Rory too. Her daughter had left way too early that morning, and they definitely needed to talk about something. In the middle of one of her rants, her cell phone rang. Two seconds later, she jumped up from the stool and took off, without explanation, leaving a very confused Luke in her wake. Jess, who was off to the side, just sighed and walked upstairs, needing to be alone.  
  
Five minutes later, Lorelai burst through her front door, calling out her daughter's name at the top of her lungs. Not seeing Rory in the living room, she headed towards the kitchen. As she stepped foot in the sacred coffee room, she heard a strangled sob coming from the adjacent room. Pushing open the door, Lorelai saw what every mother dreads; a beaten daughter.  
  
"Oh, Rory baby, what happened?" she asked, sinking down onto the bed, and wrapping her arms around the sobbing girl.  
  
"I don't know," Rory managed to get out in between sobs. "One minute he was fine, and then he was upset, and then there was pain. I couldn't stop it. And it was all my fault, I got him angry."  
  
Lorelai held back a sob of her own, and just pulled her daughter closer to her. "It's not your fault, it's not your fault," she kept whispering, praying it wasn't as bad as she thought. But in her heart, she knew it was. The town's prince charming wasn't so charming after all.  
  
Tristan threw open the door to his bedroom, and barely made it to the bed before he collapsed. Not caring about anything, he kicked off his shoes, pulled off his tie and blazer, and crawled into bed. A little while later, he heard footsteps approaching his room, and prayed that it wasn't his father. After a couple seconds, his door was pushed open, and Carmella tiptoed in, carrying freshly made chocolate brownies.  
"Thought you might want some comfort food. You came in like you needed it," she smiled, and held out the tray. Tristan smiled back, and motioned for her to sit down.  
  
"You're amazing, Carmella. Thank you," Tristan answered as he took one of the brownies.  
  
"You want to talk, sweetie?" she asked, and then bit into one of the brownies herself. She grinned and added, "you know I won't take no for an answer!"  
  
Tristan laughed as he reluctantly nodded his head. "Yeah, I know," he sighed, and then tried to think of where to begin. "You know who Rory is, right?" he asked, and was answered with a nod. "Well, something was seriously wrong with her today. I spent the entire day watching her, and I don't think she looked up once. She was hiding her face, and never let go of her books. And when I tried to talk to her at the end of the day, her reaction was nothing like I would expect from her. It was like she just snapped, and then she ran away. I don't know what to think. I'm just so worried about her."  
  
"I know, hun. It sounds like she's dealing with some serious shit. I know you're worried, but you just have to stand back until she asks for help. But be looking for the signals, in case she can't ask. Just be there for her, whatever way is best for her right now." Carmella was very worried as she spoke those words. Sure, she was worried for this Rory, but it was tearing Tristan apart. And there was nothing she could do to help.  
  
Luke left Caesar in charge of the dinner, and headed upstairs to the tiny apartment he shared with Jess. Throwing open the door, he stared at his nephew, daring him to leave. Finally, Luke closed the door behind him, and sat down at the kitchen table across from the kid with a sigh. "Alright Jess, I know you know what's going on," Luke started. He noticed the look on the other's face, and so he started again. "Fine, I know you have some idea of what's going on, and I want to know."  
  
"What makes you think I know anything," Jess responded with his usual attitude, at least in the face of authority.  
  
"You ran up here the second Lorelai flew out of the diner, you've been weird all day, and I know that you've been watching for Rory since you got home." Luke could normally deal with Jess's attitude, as he had been dealing with it since he had moved in, but not tonight. Tonight he needed to know what was wrong with Rory.  
  
"Fine, you know what, maybe I do have an idea. But it's not my idea to tell. When Rory's ready, she'll let us know." Jess's idea would send Luke into a frenzy, and Jess wasn't willing to risk Dean's life just yet. Besides, if Dean had hurt Rory, Jess would be the one to kill Dean himself.  
  
"If that's how you feel, that's fine. But I'm going over to their house right now," Luke turned on his heel and headed out of the former office. Jess sighed and ran after him, needing to know what had really happened, and not willing to let Luke find out what it was before he did. 


End file.
